Investing in PH engineering talent

Investing in PH engineering talent

They say it's more fun in the Philippines. And it's superfun with the SuperFund, a terrific investment programme led by worldclass Pinoy inventor and USA-based entrepreneur, computer engineer Diosdado Banatao.



"Computer engineer Diosdado Banatao, a major player in California’s high-tech Silicon Valley, is a great believer in education.“I know how education can transform lives, because it transformed mine.” said Banatao, who  walked barefoot  to school as a young boy in the  small village of Iguig  in the country’s northern Cagayan Valley.
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"Many of the components that comprise the modern personal computer (PC) originated from designs he pioneered and companies he founded, built, and later sold to larger firms like Intel.  He is credited with the development of the world’s first single-chip, 16-bit microprocessor-based calculator; the first 10-Mbit Ethernet CMOS media access controller (MAC) and physical layer chip; the first system logic chip set for the PC-XT and the PC-AT; the local bus concept  and the first Windows Graphics accelerator chip for PCs.


"“I’d say that at least 30 percent of each computer in the world today has got a Banatao (invention) in it,” said Winston Damarillo, a young Filipino technopreneur who has worked at Intel.  “The technologies he invented, and the companies he founded, make up today’s (indispensable) personal computer.” In other words, Dado Banatao has made the computer lighter, faster, less expensive, more fun and easier to use.
After founding and growing his own companies through the support of venture capitalists, Dado became a venture capitalist himself, currently supporting the work of 28 smaller and promising start-ups. In 2000, he founded Tallywood Venture Capital and is chairman of many emerging companies worldwide.
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"The current chair of the Philippine Development Foundation  (PhilDev), Dado has launched the SuperFund Scholarship for science and engineering. The project was actually the idea of Ed Chua of Shell, he says.
This school year, it is awarding 151 students about P1 million each to fund five years of consecutive study—including  living expenses, a stipend, housing and transportation, mentorship, summer internships and guaranteed employment. Social activities, like annual camps and retreats are also included. Students will be asked to repay the scholarship over time, to make the SuperFund Scholarships self-sustaining, and to instill a value system for the scholars to spread good will, organizers said."